Sunday, September 22, 2013

ScrapFest 2013 is now just a memory - what a fun weekend, even though we were missing friends who couldn't make it this year. I did run into Jennifer, a Flickr friend whom I met at last year's ScrapFest. Here we are in Spellbinder's aprons that they handed out to the early birds:

I saw her when ScrapFest opened today at 11a.m. and never again the rest of the day! We had different strategies since this was day 3 for me but her only day attending. Too much fun at the Waterpark, Jennifer!!

I also picked up a layout from PaperWizard with a bunch of layered die cuts for a Mickey Mouse page and a Christmas layout from Bazzill﻿. I didn't take the time to make either project since the hours were fewer today for make 'n takes. Sometimes at the end of ScrapFest, vendors will have giveaways. Well, the only booth to do anything was Graphic 45 - as the last group at their booth, they gave us extra sticker sheets and tag bases for the tags we made. I managed to make it to every booth participating this year, even Buttons Galore where they made earrings with buttons (I just took the free buttons).

So, until next year - that's it from the Mall of America and ScrapFest. Thanks to all the vendors who came to meet and greet all the eager crafters who spend their hard earned money on their products. It's not cheap for vendors to participate and we appreciate them!! And thanks to Archiver's for producing this event - their employees work hard to make it run smoothly.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Back after another long day of crafty fun at ScrapFest 2013! Thanks for stopping in to check it out.

I was at the make 'n take booths at 9 a.m. while friends Barb and Jayne (lucky ducks) were in the Tim Holtz class. When they finished class at 10:30, Barb and I went on to more make 'n takes while Jayne went to another class. After lunch Barb ran home while Jayne & I visited more booths, then the three of us went to a class featuring Hero Arts stamps - yay! The instructor came from Archiver's staff but Meg was very enthusiastic and a good teacher.

Here are the class projects - two cards and a journaling card. Sorry for the darkness in the corner of my photo.

We had lots of neon inks and daubers to use so everyone's projects varied based on the colors they chose. I couldn't resist using a lot of purple, my fave! Oh, and we got some great goodies plus I won a prize (prize on left below and class goodies on right):

Here are some of the make 'n takes I did:

Upper left Doodlebug, right Spellbinders, bottom Me and My Big Ideas.

Upper left BoBunny, right Mark Richards, Bottom left can't remember, right Lawn Fawn

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The Mark Richards card was supposed to have gems all around the circle but I couldn't bring myself to use them that way (saved them for something else - LOL). Just loved the Lawn Fawn card - the trees were stamped in the same Mason jar we used yesterday but upside down!! Brilliant, eh?

Left Petaloo, right Basic Grey

I also did two scrapbook page layouts﻿ but they didn't photograph that well so I'm not including them here. So, I managed to do 11 of 23 booths again today. Pretty good since I had a class in there too! Some booths were doing the same project as yesterday so I was able to visit a couple booths that I missed yesterday.

Here are Barb, Jayne and I after a long day of ScrapFest - we still look pretty chipper, eh?

Final day tomorrow and the hours are a bit shorter 11a - 4p. Hope to see a few more friends and visit booths I missed the first two days. Thanks again for stopping!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Hello everyone - Greetings from ScrapFest at the Mall of America! Three days of scrapbooking and card-making fun in our fabulous Mall. Last night Barb E. and I met after work to pick up our badges (a badge is needed to participate), grab a coffee at Starbucks, and shop at Archivers. This morning I was by myself (well, besides all the other participants - LOL) at 9 a.m. doing make 'n takes at the various vendor booths while Barb was with her son. Then she joined me for the afternoon and we did more projects. There are fewer vendors (23) than years past so the lines are long and the waits can be lengthy. Some of the wait times are inordinate given the project being done - you wonder what can take so long! I stood in one line for 20 minutes and didn't advance at all - I gave up on that one!!

So last night, sweet Barb brought me some fresh gladiolas from Jerry's where she works in the floral department. And in purple, my favorite color! Here they are:

Aren't they gorgeous? Really brought a bright spot to my kitchen!!

Here are my shopping finds at Archivers - they had a nice selection of Lawn Fawn so I bought a couple clear stamp sets and some dies & embellies, some paper pads and a ScrapFest die cut.

I even had a 40% off coupon so got a nice deal on one of the stamp sets. Aren't those sequins cute?!

Barb and I waited in the Lawn Fawn line for probably about 45 minutes but the wait was well worth it. Here we are waiting alongside the Rainforest Cafe (this may look familiar to some of our friends, like Robin, who've visited us):

And here's the Lawn Fawn booth with Kelly Marie and Britta (some of you will remember Britta from the Hero Arts Flickr group) leading the make 'n take.

At top some Graphic 45 stickers, a Lifestyle Crafts Project Life type card (with the washi looking striped stuff that's their sticky paper you can die cut - very fun), & a Project Life page with all sorts of fun inserts. The photo of Barb and me was a freebie from Archiver's memory lab. And at lower left a mini book made of envelopes from Prima, embellished with their flowers.

Upper left - Me and My Big Ideas card, then a tag from 7 Gypsies, lower right a card from Fancy Pants, and lower left a fun BoBunny library pocket card.

So that's it for Day 1. Eleven out of 23 booths doesn't sound like much for 8 hours but the waits were long and I did break for lunch and a coffee - LOL.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Hi all - was thinking about my new Hero Arts goodies and wondering what to do for the current contest which runs through September 30th. The challenge - to be inspired at Hero Arts and to use items from the new Holiday & Stamp Your Story catalog.

I just loved Jennifer McGuire's blog post the other day featuring Concentric Stamping. Link here to her technique article with video. I really wanted to try this technique with my new stamps. Here's the card I created:

My focal point is a paint splotch from the cling set AC027 My Notebook (love this set!) and from there I built my concentric design using clear stamps from CL725 Borders and Arrows. I used Hero Arts Soft Granite and Soft Pool inks, plus Tim Holtz's Picked Raspberry Distrss ink. I decided this looked like a snowflake so made it into a Christmas card! My sentiment is from a new holiday clear set CL722 Merry Christmas Messages, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. There are so many great sentiments in this set; I can see myself using it often this season and for many to come!

Too bad my photo isn't very vibrant on this cloudy day - I matted my stamped piece with a thin black mat and then a raspberry one (they're kinda blurred together in the photo with the raspberry looking a bit brownish- darn). I used foam tape to pop it all onto a Tide folded card from Hero Arts (a fave color). I decided to leave off any bling - this will be a nice flat card for holiday mailing!

Concentric stamping is tons of fun - hope you try it soon! Of course, Jennifer did some careful drawing of pencil lines before she stamped, while I just eye-balled it. I don't have a good eraser and couldn't find my vanishing line marker - oh well.... It's not perfect but I like the effect!

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Hi all - hope you're having a crafty weekend! My day started with working until noon. Then I raced home to get in on Kailash's Scramble which began at noon and lasted until 1:30. Luckily the theme - use washi tape - was one I could get into quickly!! Archiver's had a sale a bit ago on washi tape and I bought a bunch to fill up one of those dispensers. My Mind's Eye has a series of tapes in a tube which coordinate so well - I bought a set with some pool colors to go with Hero Arts pool folded cards (the one below is Tide). The clear set I used for the heart and sentiment is one from Hero Arts for Operation Write Home - CL582 Year Round Sentiments - just love the hearts and stars on that set. I used this set for the last Scramble 2 weeks ago and it was still handy on the craft table - hmmm, does that mean I didn't clean up from the last Scramble??! Oops... Finished it off with some BoBunny gems & a pearl.

Then I was excited to finish the card below which I started last night. I used stamps just received from Hero Arts' new Holiday and Stamp Your Story catalog. So many great stamps but I restricted myself to just a few (after all ScrapFest is only 2 weeks away so I need to save my shopping $$). Couldn't resist the Canvas Background CG621 and Joy Burst K5852 along with some clear sets I haven't opened yet. Oh, and a fall leaf too... did I say I was trying to save $$??

Some non-traditional colors for Christmas but I was playing around with some Copic markers, coloring a few quilt images that Heather Maria sent me. (Sorry, Heather - didn't finish that card yet...). Those colors found their way onto the JOY image and I pulled them into the card base (Hero Arts) and patterned paper (Doodlebug) too. I covered the JOY word with Rock Candy Distress Stickles - what a nice crystally shine they give! With that shine, I left off any other bling. Was excited to get this small start on my Christmas cards - how about you, do you have any done yet?

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Lucky me - another day off after Labor Day! And what a beautiful day, weatherwise - sunny but not too hot. I used the day to get a thank you off to Heather Maria for this great batch of goodies I received from her last week.

Heather stamped some quilt squares to color, die cut me a "Wedding Vow" silhouette (how intricate!!) and some library pockets, included some purple washi and dazzlers, colorful brads, and a blazing poppies stamp. But look at that ribbon scarf she knitted! What a beauty!! I can't wait for it to cool off here so I can wear it. And what a gorgeous card - just love the twine and buttons!

After I hit the post office with a package to Heather, I ran to Archiver's for some fun new Lawn Fawn embellies, had lunch at Smashburger, then came home to make a card using my new Blazing Poppies from Heather. It's by IndigoBlu - just love this image! Here's my card:

Don't think I did it justice but I colored with my Copics, matted it on a piece of Basic Grey paper and popped it onto some Hero Arts celadon layering paper. Sentiment is from a Hero Arts clear set CL661, It's Your Day. Added Doodlebug pearls to the poppy centers.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Today I'm celebrating with my dad who received his 50 year membership pin from the Barbershop Harmony Society. It's because of Dad that I began singing barbershop harmony back when I was 16 years old. His then chorus director, Hank Aronson, was my high school choir director. I have many fond memories of going to his shows and chorus gigs out in the community (like the Holmen WI Corn Fest).

Here he is back in 1963 - he had bright red hair then, not that you can tell from the old black and white photos from those days! He sang with the Coulee Chordsmen of LaCrosse WI at that time. And then a photo from today, with my mom and our friend Doug who presented the 50 year pin (Mom pinned it on).

We had lunch at the Covered Bridge, a bar/restaurant halfway between my house and the parents' house. Doug's wife Connie, a dear friend with whom I sing in the City of Lakes Chorus and who directed my first Sweet Adelines' chorus in Eau Claire WI rounded out our party. She brought a lovely bouquet for mom for supporting dad all these years!

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Yesterday my sister Tami was visiting me; she couldn't make it to lunch today but we each made a card for Dad. Here's my card:

I used my Silhouette to cut a barberpole, some musical notes, and the 50. The barberpole is part of a file Design ID #43667 by PPbN Designs called "haircut barbershop set" and the notes came from Snapdragon Snippets Design ID #37681 called "music notes".Here's Tami's card:

We both used a Hero Arts Azure cardbase, a David Tutera red mat, & musical note paper from Authentique. Tami used banner stamps by Technique Tuesday called Banner Up and some Doodlebug twine.